The details are what matters, and the script by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber, adapted from the well-loved novel by John Green, is very smart and fairly unsentimental, which works to the material's advantage.

The Fault in Our Stars wins points for being more complex and stylish than most similar films feel they need to be. Most movies with this target audience are maudlin and manipulative, but Boone's film never feels like it's trying too hard to win our tears—or our laughter.

Though supported by Woodley’s subtle narration, The Fault in Our Stars is relentlessly outward. That’s part of the book’s inspiring touch, and even if some of the supporting cast comes off as merely functional onscreen, the core of the tragedy comes to life in a heartbreaking way.

The film has enough charm and humor to keep it appealing to a wide audience, and dumbing things down doesn’t feel particularly smart or canny, and proves to be a minor distraction to an otherwise majorly entertaining feature.

Best of all, the film never makes its characters into stoic or tragic heroes, choosing instead to highlight what makes them human — their hopes, their fears, their anger, the way they learn to live with knowing they’re going to die.

Good movies are made out of great books all the time, and to fault Fault for not living up to its inspiration isn’t much more fair than dismissing the novel on the grounds that it sounds, superficially, like "Love Story" for millennials. As with infinities, some successes are just bigger than others.

What sustains the film through the rockier times are its challenging themes, offering real issues for the young protagonists to wrestle with, rather than whether anyone will be carded trying to buy beer.

Director Josh Boone is hardly the most distinctive cinematic stylist, but he’s smart enough to let his scenes linger for a few beats longer than most mainstream directors would, and seems to trust his actors to carry their own dramatic weight.

Boone’s unobtrusive style takes cues from the subdued nature of the material, but there’s little about the movie that makes the filmmaking stand out. Instead, it derives its chief strengths from a series of efforts to take the drama seriously, mainly embodied by Woodley’s onscreen investment in it.

Woodley and Dern breathe a ghost into the machine. Willem Dafoe has fun, albeit not too much, in a brief, vital role as a creepy writer. Most crucially, the words that survived from Green’s novel did so for a reason.

The Fault in Our Stars doesn't quite capture the discreetly twisted humor, or the muted anger, of Green's book, and its problems can be attributed to a constellation of little annoyances rather than any one serious, North Star–size flaw.

I expected, even wanted to cry at The Fault in Our Stars, or at least choke up a little. Yet the transparent eagerness of this movie to break hearts, through means not entirely justifying that end, always pulled me back.

Woodley is an ace at handling laughter through tears — "my favorite emotion," as a character in "Steel Magnolias" once said. She improves with each new film, even when the films themselves aren't much.

A truly sad movie, which has a Stella cast, script and chemistry. The story, humor and direction is AAA. One of the saddest movies in recentA truly sad movie, which has a Stella cast, script and chemistry. The story, humor and direction is AAA. One of the saddest movies in recent years. which can stand in the light with "My Sister Keeper". The Fault in Our Stars is a very satisfying movie, that will bring you to tears. I highly recommend this movie to everyone! Cant wait for the DVD.…Full Review »

I have never been surrounded by so many teenage girls before until I sat down to watch this film. During an early screening of the alluringI have never been surrounded by so many teenage girls before until I sat down to watch this film. During an early screening of the alluring teenage film adaptation of John Green’s novel The Fault In Our Stars, I was surely the minority of the sexes. To be honest, I don’t think I knew exactly how outnumbered I was until the film’s tragic scenes unfolded, delivering a current of waterworks and overwhelmingly loud wails of screaming, crying and sniffling, predominantly from female audience members. This early screening of the film was jam-packed, and had me sitting only a row away from the massive screen. If Josh Boone’s film adaptation of The Fault In Our Stars taught me anything, it’s to never underestimate the power of teenage girls and their ability to pack theaters and show their support for films and books they love.

The Fault In Our Stars is guilty of possessing a number of faults, but its biggest sin lies in its persistence to aspire to be greater than it actually is. It succeeds when it exposes us to the tragic relationship between its protagonists and the loved ones around them, and fails when it aspires to find new territory of plot and redemption for characters that are already born with unlimited amounts of pathos.

Hazel Grace Lancaster (Shailene Woodley) is as much a teenage girl as any other living in the United States. Her love of reality television, reading and curiosity of the taboo is just as strong as other girls within America. The only difference: Hazel Grace has terminal cancer. The Fault In Our Stars should be a film about cancer and how it effects the people surrounded by it (think 50/50), but it becomes overwhelming with its fascination to overly glamorize the telling of a tainted love story, therefore becoming a love story about people with cancer (think A Walk To Remember).

From the beginning, love, life and happiness are overshadowed by impending doom, and that is perhaps the problem with the film. No matter how much you fall in love with Hazel Grace or Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort), their fates are sealed. Green’s novel may have been about telling a heart-breaking love story between young teens, but much like Hazel’s fascination with her favourite book and the open endedness of a certain literary character, Hazel’s happiness is less about coming to terms with death, and more about the continuation of the life of her loved ones. The interactions with the people who will survive and live well beyond Hazel’s existence are never given their due diligence on-screen, especially her mother (played delicately by Laura Dern), always being pushed aside by the love story that will ultimately end in unhappiness and tears.

There is sure to be a reason why Green’s novel has becomes such a pop culture sensation. The film is said to be a somewhat loyal adaptation, brimming with very clever metaphors of life and death through dialogue and foreshadowing. It does a masterful job of **** the most average looking parks, backyards and parking lots, and makes great use of its supporting actors. Sadly, the two actors that have the most screen time are the two weakest components of the film. Woodley, who is slowly following in the footsteps of Emma Stone and Jennifer Lawrence, seems to play Hazel Grace less, and herself more. With the exception of her chopping off her hair and having an oxygen tank follow her around everywhere she goes, Woodley only taps the surface of her character Hazel Grace, barely gracing audiences with the brilliance radiating with the promise of such a philosophically pessimistic character.

Elgort, who comes off as a character who is easy to fall in love with, shows much of his charm and promise as a young actor. Elgort as Waters shimmers with potential, delivering a performance of a person who may be a little too cherry and perfect, given sad circumstances.

Green had said to gain the inspiration of the novel by working as a student chaplain at a children’s hospital. Drawn to the exuberant life of its terminally ill patients, Green is quoted as saying he wanted to write a book about people who were constantly being dehumanized, while showcasing the abundance of humanity in people with a terminal illness. The film does an excellent job of making audiences believe that love is what keeps Hazel and Augustus alive. Love becomes the answer, but only for so long before the inevitability of death at the end of a terminal illness takes hold. There is a point where love exists, and people fade in the film, and although the relationships that held strong are bonded by love, hope of an improbably oblivion becomes the films main concern.

The Fault In Our Stars can be self-assured as being a quality film made for an audience that would be content with half-assed filmmaking. The production quality and storytelling is top-notch, even if its is constantly emotionally manipulating.…Full Review »

I walked into the theater not really knowing what the movie was about. Within the first 10 or so minutes a basically knew how it was going toI walked into the theater not really knowing what the movie was about. Within the first 10 or so minutes a basically knew how it was going to end. It has the worst dialogue imaginable full of stupid metaphors and whiny arguments. Keep the the money you would spend watching this movies and see something that's not an overrated pile of garbage.…Full Review »